Libya: Evacuations - Fact Sheet, May 2018

Against a backdrop of critical humanitarian needs faced by asylum seekers and refugees in Libya, UNHCR has up-scaled its response in seeking durable solutions for persons of concern (POCs) in third safe countries through its resettlement and humanitarian evacuations programmes.

UNHCR has established a Temporary Emergency Evacuation and Transit mechanism (ETM) in Niger. The ETM permits the evacuation of POCs to Niger, from where further resettlement and other legal pathways are being sought, for persons determined to be refugees. UNHCR’s resettlement capacity in Libya has also been enhanced.

In September 2017, UNHCR called for 40,000 resettlement places to be made available for refugees located in 15 countries along the Central Mediterranean (CM) route. As of 22 May 2018, 11 States have committed a total of 3,781 resettlement places for the Libya-Niger situation. Out of these pledges, 1,100 will be used for resettlement processing directly out of Libya while 2,681 places will be allocated to evacuees from Libya and refugees registered in Niger.